The writing's on the wall
by Adhana Riddle
Summary: This is a sequel to "Stranger in my house". Both are oneshots and you don't necessarily need to read both. To the summary: The day started like everyday. But something happened that will finally unite Sarah with the man she truly loves. Disclaimer inside. Please Read and Review!


The writing's on the wall

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters – they belong to Jimmy Henson. Only the OMC and the plot is mine. I'm only writing this for my own amusement and not to own money.

Rated: T because I'm paranoid.

AN: English is not my native language, so please don't be too hard on me.

This story is inspired by the James Bond Song "The writing's on the wall" performed by Sam Smith and is a sequel to my story "Stranger in my house". I had not planned on writing on but was asked by WildcatsLabyrinth2018 if I would continue my story. So, my dear WildcatsLabyrinth2018: This story is for you. I hope you like it! Please R&R!

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After Sarah had opened her little bookstore this morning she'd felt that today would be different. How? She did not know. She just had this strange but familiar feeling.

Sighing, she placed her keys onto the counter and switched the computer on. She hoped that it would be exiting. Thrilling. Anything different to her boring day-to-day life in general. The life she led with her husband Jason.

Why she had wedded him five years ago she did not know. Maybe she'd hoped to forget HIM. It seemed to work just fine at the beginning. But over the years those memories returned. Of HIM and her fantastical time in the Labyrinth. His smell. His smooth, dark voice. His mismatched eyes. The white blond hair and those strange, hauntingly beautiful songs.

Sighing again she sat down behind the counter and whished – like so many times before – that she hadn't been so foolish at 16. For she had discovered much later that she could have had both. Toby and HIM. She being HIS queen and raising Toby together with – hopefully – some of their own children. But – alas – it should not be.

The morning went as always. Customers came by, bought some books and left again. She cleaned up after they'd went out of the door. Around mid-morning – after a family with small children had just left – Sarah noticed a book on the floor right in front of the entrance. A very, very familiar book. Bound in red leather with golden lettering. A book she'd last seen in her old room at her father's house. How did it come here?

Carefully, she picked it up and turned it around in her hand before finally opening it. On the inside was her name neatly written down in her handwriting. And pictures flashed in her head. Pictures of a time that seemed so long ago. A time long gone but so incredibly clear and vivid as if it had happened just yesterday.

Sarah closed the book and looked around her store. Her eyes landing on the back wall where she'd hung up her old vanity mirror. Her only communication to a world no one believed existed. A world she'd longed to return to.

Suddenly – with a determination she did not know she had – Sarah locked the door to her store and walked over to the mirror. Carefully, she placed her hand against the surface. It was hard and cold at first but after a moment it felt like water. Vanishing her hand completely. Sarah pulled it back and looked at it with silent fascination. This had never happened before. Why now? Quickly, she went to her desk, took her stool and placed it in front of the mirror. She climbed on it and pushed her hands through the looking-glass. After that she lifted her feet and put them through one by one. She sat down on the frame, closed her eyes and counted to ten. Slowly. Finally, she pushed herself off the frame and let herself falling down through the darkness.

When she came to consciousness again she found herself in a very familiar place. A place she'd been before so many years ago. A place that felt like home. A place she'd run from when she was 16 years old. She was so very young and naive. All of her true friends lived here. And the only man she ever truly loved. Still loves. Maybe she was finally here to stay forever.

With sure steps she walked down the path she knew so very well. The path that would lead her down to the wall. To her friends. To HIM. She knew that her friends would be unbelievably happy to see her again. To find out that she would stay. But what she feared was HIS reaction. Would HE be happy? Would HE be furious? Or would he have forgotten her and moved on? But no matter which storm she would have to face – she would make it through it. Somehow. She would not run again but face whatever would be waiting for her. A small smile crept onto her face. Yes, she would risk everything. For HIM. For her happiness. For their future. Without him she could not live – would not live anymore. HE was her everything and hopefully he would still be waiting.

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Jason sat at home worrying over his wife, Sarah. She should have returned by now. But the house was empty when he'd arrived from work. Everything still looked like he'd left it in the morning. He tried to call her but she was neither answering her mobile phone nor the phone in her small bookstore. He tried so many times for the past two hours. But nothing.

After dinner he finally called the police and reported her missing. The police got the notice out and asked him to meet them at her store. They wanted to start there.

Half an hour later he arrived at "Hoggle's Bog". The policemen were already there. Jason greeted them and opened the store with the reserve key. It was dark inside and only the computer screen was shining brightly in the darkness. Jason went over to the wall and switched the light on while the policemen started searching the store. But after searching everything twice they had to declare it empty. While looking at Sarah's belongings they found her bag and keys on the counter on which she'd probably placed it in the morning. Her mobile phone was lying next to her computer and her purse was still in her bag. She couldn't have left the shop. But the door was locked.

Did someone kidnap her? Or did she leave for a walk without her belongings? It would not be the first time. They were just discussing what might have happened when one of the officers called them to the back of the store. They went there and Jason had to gasp in surprise. There on the wall hung her old vanity mirror. The one he'd banned from their house because he'd found it terribly old-fashioned. But it was broken. Broken into a million shards of glass which were spread widely in front of the old mirror. And old, red, leather bound book was lying in front of it.

Whatever had happened here? And how was it related to her disappearance?

Much later – around midnight – he arrived home. Hoping against hope that she would be there. But sadly she wasn't. Jason sat down on the couch and opened the strange red book titled "The Labyrinth". It was a children's book. Sarah's, to be correct. It seemed well read and was already worn on the corners.

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child, and he wanted everything for himself and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he had given her certain powers…" He stopped reading and turned the page back to the first page. He studied her name for a while before skipping again through the pages. It talked of a Labyrinth, a stolen baby, some strange creatures and a Goblin King. He was about to close the book when he read HIS name. Jareth. The Goblin King.

A cynical laugh escaped him. Had she been dreaming of a fictional king? A character from a children's book? This Jareth seemed so real but in reality it was nothing more than a fantasy of hers. How could he have been so stupid to believe that she was cheating on him. But none the less she'd distanced herself from him. And all for a book?

He skipped further through the pages until he found an underlined passage. A passage, that had probably been important to her when she was a teenager.

"Give me the child!"

"Sarah, beware. I have been generous up 'til now. I can be cruel."

"Generous? What have you done that's generous?"

"Everything! Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for YOU! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations. Isn't that generous?"

"Give me the child," she repeated. "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen." She bit her lip and continued, "For my will is as strong as yours ... and my kingdom as great..."

"Stop! Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams..."

"My kingdom as great... my kingdom as great... damn, I can never remember that line."

"I ask for so little. Just fear me. Love me. Do as I say, and I shall be your slave."

"You have no power over me!"

Sighing, Jason closed the book. It seemed that his wife had a very imaginative fantasy. Maybe she believed to be the heroin and fancied herself in love with this strange, fictional King. But still... That did not help him or the officers with finding her. Hopefully they would know more on the morrow. Until then he could do nothing else but go to bed an sleep. If he could sleep at all.

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After Sarah entered the castle she found it to be quiet. Too quiet. There were no Goblins running around. No chickens anywhere. Nothing.

It was already strange enough to find the Labyrinth so empty with no obstacles anywhere. Not even her friends had been there. Not the worm, nor Hoggle or Sir Didymus or Ludo. It was just like a normal, stony Labyrinth. What had happened here? Was it her fault? Did the magic leave with her? But her friends had still visited her after... So that could not be it...or could it be?

Glumly, Sarah climbed the stairs that would lead her to the Throne Room. She stopped on a window to look outside. The light was fading and the stars slowly gathered in the sky. Stars that were so different from those in the aboveground. Her eyes fell on the city. It was as empty and silent as the Labyrinth. No Goblins. No noises. No lights. Nothing.

Sighing, she continued on her way upstairs. But when she finally arrived in HIS Throne Room it was – like everything else – empty. Sarah walked around, searching for any sign of HIM having been here. But the dust had settled and there were no traces of someone being in here for a long while. Where was HE?

Desperate, she left the room again and walked through the castle. Opening every door. Searching every corner. But she found nothing. Only emptiness.

After hours she left the castle trough a back door and entered the garden. It was beautiful and probably the only magical place left. Blooming trees and flowers everywhere. A small creek was winding its way through it and an exotic fragrance filled the air. Not knowing what she would find, Sarah walked around slowly looking for any sign of live.

But the darkness had fully settled in now and only an eerily red light made it possible to see anything. Her hope on finding him alive dwindling, she stopped on a small hill with an incredibly beautiful view of the Labyrinth which was glowing mysteriously in the red light. A small tear made its way down her cheek. – _Where are you...?_ – she thought to herself.

"Sarah...is that truly you?" A weak voice whispered from somewhere behind her. She spun around only to find someone lying in the shadows of a magnificent tree. "Or am I dreaming again? Like so often these past years."

"Jareth...!" She was at his side as fast as possible. "It is me! You aren't dreaming!" His hand was reaching out to touch her cheek. She let him and closed her own around his.

"I nearly gave up hoping that I would see you ever again."

"I'm so sorry that I left you, Jareth. So, so sorry!" She kneeled down next to his weakly form and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"But you are here now and that is all that matters." His arms encircled her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Just promise to stay..."

"Forever!"

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When Jason entered the kitchen in the morning, to break his fast he found a small note on the counter. His hands shaking, he picked it up and instantly recognized Sarah's delicate handwriting.

"Dear Jason,

If you read this, I will be long gone. Please do not search for me for I am in a place you'll probably never find. Just know that I finally found what I have been looking for all those past years.

I am sorry that I left you like this but believe me, that it is for the best of us both. Please find someone new to love. Someone you deserve. Someone who would make you as happy as I will be where I am now.

Please, please do not look for me. I have risked a lot to be here but I could not live without him anymore. I had to give it all up. For him. Because the writing was on the wall...

Regards, Sarah."

The note crumbled in his hand. While he sunk to his knees. Crying.


End file.
